Rsa Events

Conflict, refugee and migration crises, an extraordinary US election race - and result, and post-Brexit-vote tumult for the UK and the EU - 2016 has been a year of exceptional, world-changing events. Join us at the RSA as our group of expert reviewers – historian and author of The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan; academic and cultural critic Sarah Churchwell and political scientist Matthew Goodwin - reflect on what has been a turbulent year in national and international political, social and cultural events.

In a world increasingly dominated by winner-take-all markets, good fortune and what may seem as trivial initial advantages often translate into guaranteed success over time. Despite this, false beliefs about luck and personal success persist, and can often shape individual and political choices in harmful ways. At the RSA, influential economist and New York Times columnist Robert Frank argues that it is vital that we gain a more accurate understanding of the role of chance if we are to create better, fairer economies and societies, and shows how inequality driven by chance can be mitigated by adopting relatively simple policy solutions.

As a teacher in an inner-city school, Lucy Crehan was exasperated with ever-changing government policy claiming to be based on lessons from ‘top-performing’ education systems. She became curious about what was really going on in classrooms of the countries whose teenagers ranked top in the world in reading, maths and science. Lucy visits the RSA to document some of her journey, weaving together her experiences with research on policy, history, psychology and culture to offer extensive new insights and provide answers to three fundamental questions: How do these countries achieve their high scores? What can others learn from them? And what is the price of this success?

Peter Tatchell is awarded the 2016 RSA Albert Medal for tireless campaigning on human rights and social equality. In his Albert Medal Lecture, Peter Tatchell will speak about the ecology of campaigning for social transformation. In less than 50 years, LGBT rights has gone from the margin to the mainstream. How was this transformation achieved? Peter Tatchell began his LGBT advocacy and activism half a century ago, combining both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary action to secure changes in public attitudes, the law and the way institutions treat LGBT people. In his speech, Peter will talk about the ideals and methods, the setbacks and triumphs that led to one of the fastest, most successful social reform campaigns in British history.

The nature of work and employment is changing rapidly. In the face of an uncertain economic future, what steps do we need to take, and what new models do we need to build in order to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to engage in work that has meaning and value? Does an increase in the number of companies and organisations that are employee-owned offer a route to a more stable, sustainable and inclusive form of productivity and prosperity? Our speakers explore the relationship between employee share ownership, business ethics and effectiveness with three leading figures: Stephen Bampfylde, founding chair, Saxton Bampfylde; Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnership; and Sacha Romanovitch, CEO, Grant Thornton.

Economic issues are often moral issues. If you know where a person stands on the left-right spectrum, you can easily predict their preference for economic approaches like austerity or stimulus. One’s moral compass tends to dictate their response to even ‘factual’ matters like whether or not raising the minimum wage increases unemployment. What we believe influences what we perceive far more than we would like to admit to. Renowned social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that most of us stick unswervingly to one of two persuasive stories about capitalism - with predictable consequences. He believes we must push ourselves beyond these entrenched narratives and develop a ‘third story’ – one that incorporates some of the objective truths of both, and abandons the gut-level assumptions on either side.

It may be a post-pollster, post-pundit, post-truth landscape – but can we predict where the world goes from here? An extraordinary US presidential election campaign has resulted in an outcome that few could have predicted at its outset: Donald J Trump will become the 45th US President of the United States. The implications of this historic decision are, for now, highly unpredictable, and for many, deeply concerning, with many questions unresolved around the course of future US policy on the economy, security, environmental protection, and human rights. Our panel of experts consider what a Trump presidency says about, and means for America and the world in the days, months and years to come. Panel: Melanie McDonagh, Leader writer, Evening Standard and contributor, The Spectator; John Prideaux, US editor, The Economist; Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director-General of RUSI; Stephen Bush, Special correspondent, New Statesman; James O'Brien, Presenter, LBC & BBC Newsnight

At a time of low growth and increasing income inequality, innovation-led growth is more necessary than ever. But, just as it needs it most, has capitalism lost its ability to adapt, experiment and invent? Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy Fredrik Erixon and innovation strategist Bjorn Weigel argue that companies and policy makers are actually hindering innovation, and through research and case studies, including Uber and Apple, will reveal both the obstacles to our future prosperity and a possible roadmap to reversing this trend.

We bring together representatives from civil society, thinktanks, and the media in a panel discussion to explore how we can improve the quality of public discussion about the economy – and, in doing so, change economics itself for the better.

The RSA's Vikki Heywood CBE joined the Bristol Distinguished Lecture Series. Listen back as she discusses her Chairmanship of the Warwick Commission 2015 “Enriching Britain: Culture Creativity and Growth” and examines the strengths of our creative nation in the new world order post Brexit. Watch the pre-address interview as Vikki Heywood answers selected questions: ow.ly/2wA630590R9 For more information about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series and how to attend, visit: www.uwe.ac.uk/bdas

Best-selling author and TED talk sensation Simon Sinek is fascinated by the people that make the greatest impact in their organisations, and in the world. He has discovered some remarkable patterns in how they think, act and communicate, and the environments in which people operate at their natural best. In his new book Together is Better Simon Sinek has distilled many of these insights into a series of inspiring reflections on relationships, trust, teamwork, and what it means to each play our part in creating and building a shared vision and project. Join Simon Sinek at the RSA to find out how more of us can go home from work feeling fulfilled by what we do, and inspired by what we can achieve with others.

Using research from neuroscience, psychology, social science, as well as captivating examples of real people doing extraordinary things, renowned ‘Undercover Economist’ Tim Harford explains that the human qualities we value: creativity, responsiveness, and resilience, are integral to the disorder, confusion, and disarray that produce them. Harford visits the RSA to help us understand why unexpected changes of plans, unfamiliar people, and unforeseen events can help generate new ideas and opportunities as they make us anxious and angry; and come to appreciate that the human inclination for tidiness in our personal and professional lives masks deep and debilitating fragility that keep us from innovation.

Ed Vaizey MP offers six lessons from six years as arts minister, and addresses future challenges and opportunities for cultural policy, and the role of the arts in society. Ed Vaizey was the UK’s longest serving culture minister, serving from 2010-2016 in senior government roles encompassing culture, communications and the digital economy. He remains a vocal champion for the UK’s arts and cultural industries. In the RSA Chairman’s lecture 2016, he reflects on his term of office and the lessons learned, and addresses the future challenges and opportunities for the sector and for policymakers, including funding the arts, the opportunities provided by technology, the role of the arts in society, diversity, education and the regions.

Academics Helen Margetts and Peter John explain how social media are now inextricably intertwined with the political behaviour of ordinary citizens. Margetts and John visit the RSA to show large-scale data and experimentation that explore how such dynamics inject turbulence into politics, which is increasingly characterized by instability, unpredictability and often unsustainability. These patterns of mobilization bring us shocks and surprises (from Jeremy Corbyn to Donald Trump) which traditional political institutions struggle to accommodate, with profound implications for models of democracy.

Award-winning filmmaker Raoul Martinez visits the RSA to reflect on one of the most urgent questions of our time – are we really free? Informed by over a decade of research, Martinez will lift the veil on the mechanisms of control that pervade our lives, from the lottery of our birth to the consent-manufacturing influence of concentrated wealth and power. Tackling economics, philosophy, politics, criminology, psychology and environmentalism, it shows that the more we understand how the world shapes us, the more effectively we can shape our world.

Depending on who you ask, our current generation of youngsters are either ‘snowflakes’ in need of greater resilience, or the product of the economic, political and social insecurity that has come to define our times, creating new pressures which have helped to drive up rates of mental distress. What implications does this have for policy making in the UK, and how can we deliver on government commitments to improve mental health care for children and young people? Join us to discuss these challenges and potential solutions with an expert panel including Sarah Brennan, Chief Executive of Young Minds, Lord Victor Adebowale, Chief Executive of Turning Point and NHS England Board Member, and Jonny Benjamin, campaigner and activist.

Co-founder of n+1 magazine and one of the most highly acclaimed essayists in the US today, Mark Greif is one of the most exciting writers of his generation. His essays examine the vicissitudes of everyday life under twenty-first-century capitalism, and he repeatedly challenges us to rethink the world and demand something better. What is the right way to be and act given the many local and global challenges we face –is it possible to stay honest in dishonest times? Counter-intuitive and revelatory in his insights, Greif forces us to confront the excuses we make to console ourselves about our impact on the world. He visits the RSA to explore the philosophical and political arguments laid out in his essay ‘The Meaning of Life, Part II’, which touches on thoughts on a universal citizen’s income, poverty, property and ‘morally relevant inequality’

In her part-manual, part-manifesto “Feminist Fightclub”, journalist and critic Jessica Bennett brings together the personal stories of a group of women who met regularly in New York City to explore and confront the external (sexist) and internal (self-sabotaging) behaviors that continue to plague women in the workplace —as well as the system that perpetuates them. At the RSA, Jessica Bennett joins us for a special “in conversation” event to share these revealing workplace stats and stories. A leading voice in feminist popular culture today, Bennett offers a new vocabulary for all-too familiar sexist archetypes, and her combat techniques provide practical hacks for pushing back.

What separates effective communicators from truly successful persuaders? The world’s foremost expert on influence reveals the results of three decades of research. Thirty years in the making, Robert Cialdini’s new book Pre-Suasion is the eagerly awaited follow-up to his bestselling, genre-defining Influence. Cialdini’s latest research shows that the secret to persuasion doesn’t lie in the message itself, but in the key moment before that message is delivered. He visits the RSA to show that the best persuaders spend more time crafting what they do and say before making a request. In this way, they gain a singular kind of persuasive traction by arranging for recipients to be receptive to a message before they encounter it. Cialdini calls this pre-suasion. “To persuade optimally,” he says, “it’s necessary to pre-suade optimally.” In other words, to change minds most effectively, a pre-suader must change initial “states of mind.”

With his AI project DeepMind, Demis Hassabis has said he is leading “an Apollo programme for the 21st century”. But how far can AI really take us? Demis Hassabisis the co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, a neuroscience-inspired AI company, acquired by Google in 2014. He is now Vice President of Engineering at Google DeepMind and leads their general AI efforts, including the development of AlphaGo, the first program to ever beat a professional player at the game of Go. In this special event at the RSA, Demis Hassabis offers a unique insight from the frontiers of artificial intelligence research, and shares his latest thoughts on AI’s potential to help solve our biggest current and future challenges, from healthcare to climate change.